Foul trouble hampers Bulldogs in home opener

By RYAN BLAKE THURMAN Herald Sports Editor

Published 6:00 am, Sunday, November 20, 2011

Photo: Ryan Thurman/Plainview Herald

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The Plainview Bulldogs’ Quaveien Thomas (5) goes up for a layup during a non-district game Friday against the Monterey Plainsmen in the DogHouse. Monterey held on to win 65-56. Thomas led all scorers with 20 points. less

The Plainview Bulldogs’ Quaveien Thomas (5) goes up for a layup during a non-district game Friday against the Monterey Plainsmen in the DogHouse. Monterey held on to win 65-56. Thomas led all scorers with 20 ... more

Photo: Ryan Thurman/Plainview Herald

Foul trouble hampers Bulldogs in home opener

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After four of the Plainview Bulldog starting five fouled out of Friday's home opener against Monterey, it would have been easy to place the blame on the refs perhaps calling the game a little too closely.

Instead, starting point guard Quaveien Thomas placed the blame on himself and the other three seniors who found themselves on the bench in the fourth quarter instead of trying to help the Dogs rally from a 13-point fourth-quarter deficit.

"I think it (fouls) was on our leadership," said Thomas, who led Plainview with 20 points. "Nobody really stepped up and said something. Nobody really knew how many fouls they had. Somebody needed to talk out there and let them know what kind of position they were in."

Foul trouble kept the Dogs off balance all night and allowed Monterey to build a double-digit lead in the third quarter that led to a 65-56 loss for Plainview.

Starting shooting guard Jaylon Jackson was the first casualty of foul trouble as he saw his playing time severely limited after picking up his third foul less than 30 seconds in the second quarter. Consequently, Jackson was only able to contribute nine points.

But Thomas, who was the last starter to foul out late in the fourth quarter, doesn't expect foul trouble to keep Plainview down often this season.

"It's something that we can fix," Thomas said. "It's fixable, and we'll pick it up next time we're out there."

The Bulldogs (1-1) will try to bounce back when they host another Class 5A school at 7:30 p.m. Monday when Tascosa comes to the DogHouse.

The obvious place to start trying to improve is not giving up so many trips to the free-throw line. Monterey (2-0) shot 49 free throws Friday while Plainview put up just 19. Monterey only made 43 percent of its free throws, but it still amounted to 21 points.

"That's just being lazy on defense," Plainview head coach Leon Hagerman said. "We were out of sync the whole time. We couldn't get in the right place offensively or defensively."

Plainview's other problem was settling for long jump shots.

"To his credit, (Monterey coach David Chapman) has run a man defense all four years he's played us. He ran a man defense on Tuesday night (against Hereford) and comes out in a zone," Hagerman said. "We weren't prepared for a zone, and our kids didn't adjust very well."

Because of that, Plainview resorted to shooting from the perimeter, and that strategy didn't pan out well.

"You shoot 5-for-24 from the 3-point line, that's not very good," Hagerman said. "Especially when your coach is saying attack the rim."

In the Dogs' season-opening win against Midland, Plainview only took nine 3-pointers, which is more in line with what Hagerman thinks the team should be putting up.

"We've got to be a more attacking-the-rim type of team," he said.

In the first half, Plainview got to the rim more often, and with a 3-pointer mixed in here and there, the Dogs were able to take their first lead of the night late in the second quarter on a short jumper by Thomas. Plainview never got up by more than five, though, and wound up turning the ball over on its final two possessions. That allowed Monterey to tie the game at 32 on a short jumper by Oscar Douglas at time expired.

Besides Thomas, the only other Bulldog to reach double digits in points was Avysh Hervey, the only starter who didn't foul out. Hervey scored 11 on 31 percent shooting while also pulling down a game-high 13 rebounds to complete a double-double.